


57 Times

by nolly47



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, LadyNoir - Freeform, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-12-24 02:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12003384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nolly47/pseuds/nolly47
Summary: Chat Noir has told Ladybug he loves her 57 times... kind of





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was way shorter than I was expecting, but okay here we go!

Chat Noir has told Ladybug that he loves her a total of 57 times. Now none of these were technically confessions because that would require that his Lady had heard any of these declarations. And he's tried to tell her. He really has, but one of their Miraculous is beeping or the press is right there or he gets brainwashed by an akuma or a middle-aged man dressed like a freaking butterfly is trying to kill one of them again!

It was always something. So, Chat gave up on waiting for the grand moment and began taking advantage of the small moments that they did have.

He tells her as she swings away from the latest Akuma battle. He says it when he sees her take care of Hawkmoth’s latest victim. He declares it when she races ahead of him on patrol with a laugh on her lips. He breathes it after every single “Bien Joué.” She doesn't know about any of them, but he remembers each one. All slightly different, but all containing the same truth. Chat Noir is hopelessly, irrevocably in love with Ladybug.

And it's so obvious or at least he thinks it should be. As soon as he sees her his eyes light up and his heart thrums. And it's no different this night when he is running across the rooftops on a solo patrol. The cool air felt amazing on his flushed cheeks only encouraging him to race faster..

He's working on his final lap when he hears the tell-tale zip of a yo-yo, making his ears jump to attention. Chat screeches to a stop and turns in time to see her land in a crouch behind him on the rooftop. A smile spreads across his face with no effort at all.

“Evening, my Lady. Wasn’t expecting you tonight,” he greets with a bow.  
“Hey, minou,” she replies slowly then shakes her head as if to clear it.  
“Woah, you alright? You look tired.”  
“More like exhausted,” she replies with a lazy smile. “I was trying to do some physics homework, but I swear it puts me right to sleep.” As if to prove her point she broke into another jaw-cracking yawn. “So, I came out to get some blood pumping.”  
Chat splayed a hand over his chest. “And here I thought you had come just to see little ol’ me.”  
That earned him a giggle and he had to work hard to keep his lips pursed in mock-offense. A fight he quickly lost when Ladybug walked over and flicked his bell.  
“Of course, I’m happy to see you too, minou.” She stretched once more, thankfully not noticing the way her partner had suddenly forgotten how to breathe. She let her arms fall to her sides as she looked over the lit-up city. “Up for a run?”  
A smirk slid on his face. “Lead the way, my Lady.” 

And just like that they were off. They weaved and bobbed around chimneys, leaped from roof to roof, laughing as they went. But much too soon for Chat’s taste, Ladybug was bringing them to the tower, but he followed her nonetheless and plopped down next to her on one of the beams to look out over the city, their city.  
They swung their legs, Chat more enthusiastically, as they talked about their latest battle and anything else they could think of that wouldn’t give too much away about their identities. 

They were currently on the subject of their kwamis, and Adrien had more than enough to say about his nightmare of a furball. He was ranting about the number of times he has ended up with cheese smeared on his fingers when he went to grab something out of his bag, but he was cut off suddenly by a weight landing on his shoulder. He looked down to find the most important person in his life leaning against him, fast-asleep. This wasn’t an entirely new occurrence, but it made his heart flutter all the same. 

He leaned forward ever so slightly to make sure that her eyes were closed before whispering the three words he’s said 57 times before. 

“I love you.” 

His heart stutters when she moves in her sleep almost in response to his declaration, but when she doesn't move any further he returns his gaze to their city and misses the brilliant blush searing his Lady's cheeks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's see how Marinette is handling this new information.

It had been a perfectly normal patrol until her partner decided to confess his undying love to her. No, that wasn't really true, he thought she'd been asleep at the time and truthfully she had been. 

Chat had been telling her some story about his kwami, and she was so tired that she could barely focus on the details. She could still tell, however, it was one of those stories that wasn't quite funny enough to make you laugh but still made you smile and feel warm on the inside. And she was so comfortable, her super suit keeping her the perfect temperature as always, and Chat’s soft voice was lulling her to sleep even more than her physics had. She had literally just fallen asleep when Chat moved ever so slightly and woke her up, but she was so comfortable against his shoulder (which she had apparently landed on in her near comatose state) that her heavy lids remained stubbornly shut in hopes of falling asleep again. But of course any hopes of gaining some much needed rest went out the window as soon as the stupid cat said, “I love you.” She went rigid as soon as the words left his lips. Once she remembered that breathing was necessary, she realized that Chat had fallen silent, not wishing to disturb her sleep. Which left her alone to be tormented by a rapidly beating heart and her own thoughts as she still laid with her head on the the shoulder of a person who just admitted to being in love with her. 

He loves her. He actually loves her. She wasn’t completely oblivious, she had always thought that there might be some truth behind his flirting, but never did it cross her mind that he actually loved her. These thoughts kept swirling around her head for another twenty minutes until mercy final fell down upon her in the form of her earrings beeping shrilly. She did some rather impressive theatrics (considering her mind was mush) and kept a mostly normal face while she said a hasty goodbye to Chat Noir before swinging away, not giving him a chance to say anything else that might potentially kill her. 

And that was how she ended up shrieking into a pillow while Tikki rubbed her back, soothingly. She screamed until her throat was raw. She suddenly realized just how sore her muscles were from being tense for so long, and Marinette finally slumped in defeat. 

“Oh, Marinette,” Tikki said.  
Her chosen only groaned into the pillow in response.  
“Come on. You need to talk this out or you’re never going to get any sleep.”  
“Good maybe I’ll die of exhaustion and never have to deal with this.”  
“Marinette,” Tikki giggled.  
The girl blew out her air once more before flopping over and staring at the ceiling. “He loves me, Tikki.”  
“I know.”  
“He’s actually in love with me,” she muttered again.  
“We’ve established that. But how do you feel about him?” Tikki asked carefully.  
“I… I’m not sure.”  
The small god had to hold back her blooming smile. Marinette needed to come to terms with her feelings on her own. “Well, you can take some time to decide. For now, I think you should get some sleep. It’s already two in the morning.”  
“Yeah. Good night.”  
The kwami only hummed in response before floating over to flip the light switch. After another minute of silence Marinette spoke again.  
“Thank you, Tikki,” she whispered before rolling over and falling asleep.

**********

It had only been two weeks, and already Ladybug has heard Chat Noir tell her he loves her three times. Of course, there was the first one that started this whole ordeal. Then two more during patrols. The second one she thought she might have imagined, he had said it so softly. 

The last one was different, his voice had sounded almost broken. They were on a night patrol together, and Chat had been acting a little strange, less flirty but nothing to be too worried about. After an uneventful hour, they decided to call it quits. Ladybug felt like there was something that he wanted to say, but he only shook his head and bid her goodnight. She smiled once more and cast out her yoyo. She had only just made it across the street when Chat said it. It wasn’t loud enough that he would have expected her to hear it, but she could still pick up the almost dejected tone in his voice. 

And now, these declarations were beginning to affect the rest of her life. She couldn’t get it out of her head. She thought about the way that he said it. How he managed to pack so much emotion into those three words. Then she thought about all the times he had shown her that he loves her. All of the times he has sacrificed himself in her place. And as she was sitting in class, she glanced outside and noticed the way that the sunlight filtered through the leaves. Then next thing she knew, she found herself thinking about how remarkably close the shade was to a certain cat’s eyes. And then that just led to her mind helpfully supplying image after image of his grass-green eyes instead of focusing on the English lesson of the day. 

Really, it was becoming a problem. Before she knew it, the bell was ringing, signaling the beginning of lunch. As her other classmates hurried out the door to freedom, her three friends stayed behind to wait for her. As she carefully put away her supplies into her backpack she mentally berated herself for her lack of focus that morning. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't hear Alya calling her name multiple times.

“Marinette!”  
Said girl shrieked and threw her pencil pouch in the air, luckily it was zipped closed.  
“Geez, girl, I’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes. Didn’t sleep much?”  
The distracted girl shrugged. “Something like that,” she managed to say as she finished packing up her stuff and slung her bag over her shoulder. The four friends headed out together. As they walked down the stairs, Nino and Alya in front with Adrien and Marinette following closely behind, the blond turned to the still frustrated girl.  
“So, Marinette it’s your turn to pick a place to eat for lunch. Do you know where you want to go?’ he asked with a dazzling smile.  
“I was thinking that little café around the corner. It’s only a block away and the food’s pretty cheap,” she responded immediately.  
Suddenly, Alya and Nino both whipped around to face her, stopping so abruptly Marinette almost crashed into her best friend. She had just opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when she saw the looks on her friends’ faces. 

Alya’s face was a strange mix of proud and incredulous. Nino simply wore a wide smirk. And most confusing of all, Adrien’s face was brimming with excitement and glee. 

“What? Is that not a good choice? We can eat somewhere else.” But this only seemed to make it worse, as all of their expressions only got more surprised, more smug, and impossibly more ecstatic. “Fine,” she huffed. “Where would you like to go, Adrien?”  
“That café sounds perfect!” he chirps delightedly. 

Slowly, the group began walking again. The short trip was silent, which was fine with Marinette as she was still trying to sort through her black cat problem. They arrived at the café and sat down at one of the outdoor tables. As they waited for their food, the boys began a heated debate about which video game had the best music. Marinette took advantage of their distraction and leaned in towards Alya.

“Hey, Al. Why did you guys freak out when I picked this place for lunch?” she whispered.  
The redhead snorted and quickly covered it with a cough when Nino glanced over. “Girl, it wasn’t the restaurant. You talked to Adrien without tripping over a single word. Did something happen between you two? I need all the details.”  
Marinette’s mouth simply hung open. Her mind had come to a crashing halt. She hadn’t even noticed. Honestly, she hadn’t even thought about the fact that she was talking to Adrien. He was just a normal person for a minute. Woah, okay no. Adrien was not just a normal person he was sweet and cute and… and Chat was all of those things too. And she had been distracted by him all day. Those were all the same traits that she fell for in Adrien, but maybe she had actually fallen for…

Unfortunately, she never got the chance to finish that thought as a chorus of screams sounded down the street. The unmistakable alert of an akuma in the area.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry to end this here. I wanted this to be a two-shot, but we aren't even at the akuma battle yet and this chapter is already 1,500 words. So the third (and final) chapter will be up soon!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat's perspective again to finish us out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of 57 Kudos on this fic, here is the final chapter. Thank you so much for reading!

To put it plainly, Adrien was having a fantastic day. 

Not only did the first part of the school day fly by, but now Marinette talked to him! No hesitation, no awkwardness, no stutter what so ever. And it wasn’t even just speaking normally while he was in the area (which would have been amazing on its own), but she directly addressed him. So, basically, Adrien was really looking forward to lunch with his friends. 

But, of course, his black cat bad luck just had to kick in, in the form of an akuma. And, really this wouldn’t normally be much of a problem. Akumas were at least weekly occurrences, but sneaking away to transform was a whole lot easier when you weren’t trapped at a table in close proximity to your three best friends.

The journalist of the group was up like a shot. With her phone already in hand and recording, she ran in the direction of the screams from up the street. Nino was quick to follow, chasing after the redhead who apparently had a death wish. That just left Marinette whom he somehow had to get away from.

He turned to suggest hiding, but was met with a third empty seat. Well, that was much easier than he was expecting. Adrien quickly dashed to the nearest alley, and a quick transformation later, Chat Noir was propelling himself to the rooftops. He landed on the building on all fours, like his namesake, and creeped over to the edge of the roof to gauge what kind of villain they would be up against today. 

At the far end of the street, Chat could make out Alya and Nino hiding out behind a car, the boy desperately trying to drag the stubborn vlogger further into cover even as she fought back to get a clear shot for the Ladyblog. Adrien groaned. Well, at least Nino had some sense. He let his eyes drift passed them to the latest akumatized victim. 

It was a man dressed in a full tux complete with coat tails and a tall top hat. The entire outfit was an off white, and thanks to his enhanced vision, Chat could tell that it was covered with millions of small typed words. They also carried a large scepter that was, wait was that a giant pencil? Well, Adrien’s seen weirder stuff before. 

The akuma stalked down the road. He made it close enough to spot Alya despite Nino’s attempts to keep them both hidden. The akumatized person raised their pencil, and Chat could see an evil smirk spread across his face. Chat Noir sprung into action, not particularly wanting to find out what that pencil could do to his friends. 

He extended his baton and pole-vaulted himself in front of the akuma, effectively blocking his friends from any danger. Even before his feet had touched the ground he had his baton shrunken down and rapidly spinning in a circle to create a shield just in time for the akuma to reveal his power. A massive torrent of crumpled pieces of paper shot out of the scepter. Now normally this wouldn’t seem like a very impressive power, but the sheer force of the stream of papers made Chat’s footing slip back a few feet, and it was easily enough to trap a person under a massive pile. 

“Get out of here,” the hero shouted back to his friends.  
Chat watched as the two snuck away to find a more secure hiding place, but knowing Alya he guessed they wouldn’t be too far away. With the threat of others’ safety out of the way, Chat turned his attention back to akuma. Just as he was about to vault to the rooftops out of range the akuma stopped his assault and lowered the pencil to size up the cat-themed hero.

“Ah, the resplendent Chat Noir, a formidable foe,” the akuma sneered.  
“Ah,” Chat mimicked. “The lunatic of the week, a mild inconvenience.”  
“You shall address me as Writer’s Block!” the akuma growled.  
All of Chat’s muscles slacked from their defensive position in disbelief. “Really? Writer’s Block? Gee, real creative, Hawkmoth. I wonder what could have possibly happened to make this person emotionally vulnerable enough for one of your butterflies from hell to possess them.” 

The outline of a butterfly flickered over the face of the person, and Chat allowed himself a smirk as he slid back into his fighting stance. Chat’s eyes flicked behind the still-distracted akuma when he noticed a flash of red on one of the roofs across the street. 

Chat locked eyes with His Lady, and they exchanged a quick silent conversation to decide on their plan. Chat returned his attention to the akuma. Okay, distract til Ladybug swoops in from behind. Can do. Writer’s Block once again had his focus on him. Chat swung his baton over his shoulders and rested his wrists on either side casually. But before he could get even a single word out, a stream of crumpled papers were flying at Ladybug who just barely managed to jump out of the way before they slammed into her. Okay… new plan.

Chat charged the akuma, while he was facing the other way, but the akuma anticipated this move too and swung his pencil around towards Chat. The rush of papers hit him square in the chest and sent him off balance, tumbling in the opposite direction. Fortunately, the akuma stopped his attack, allowing Chat time to get to his feet. Unfortunately, Writer’s Block had stopped in order to block Ladybug who he then kicked into Chat Noir sending them both smashing to the ground again. 

“Hey, minou,” Ladybug groaned as she gently lifted herself off of him. “I don’t get it. It’s like he knows exactly what we’re planning.” She offered her hand to help him up.  
“Hmm.” Chat’s eyes narrowed. What a stupid thing to get akumatized over. Getting writer’s block. Pfft. Writing is so easy. Anyone could do it.  
Immediately, the akuma released an enraged shout. “Writing is not easy, you imbecile!”  
Gotcha. Chat smirked and quickly returned his attention to a very confused heroine. “My Lady, shooting paper isn’t his only power. He can read minds!”  
Ladybug’s eyes widened. “Well, how the heck are we supposed to fight that? He knows everything we do before we do it.” She sighed. “If only we spoke another language,” she mumbled the last part to herself, but Chat’s ears still caught it.  
“LB, you’re a genius,” he chirped.  
“I completely agree, but to what exactly are we referring?”  
“We just have to think in another language. 中文為例.”  
“But I don’t speak another language,” she exclaimed. “And does every guy speak Chinese?”  
Chat laughed as he dashed towards Writer’s Block. “Try a lucky charm,” he called over his shoulder before switching his thoughts to Chinese. 

The akuma met Chat’s baton with his scepter, and the two began fencing. The good thing about fighting was that it was mostly muscle memory and natural instincts, so Adrien didn’t have to focus too much on making sure his thoughts stayed in the correct language. But it was definitely easier fighting when the opponent didn’t know exactly where your thrusts were aimed during a duel. 

They parried back and forth, each trying to outwit the other. At the same time, Chat was trying to locate the akumatized object as they fought, surely the giant pencil was too obvious a target. While he was considering the akuma’s hat, he lost focus on the fight, and another wave of paper smacked him off balance, but it sure would be easier if they got that pencil away from him. Before he could regain his footing and retrieve the baton that had been knocked out of his hand, the akuma was above him, pinning him to the concrete with the surprisingly sharp point of the pencil pressing into his chest. 

Suddenly, the whir of a yoyo sounded and the pencil was yanked from the akuma’s hand. Both turned in surprise to see Ladybug snap the pencil in half over her knee with that triumphant smirk that Adrien loved.

Chat Noir rolled back onto his shoulders slightly to get more momentum as he kicked the akuma in the chest sending them flying backwards. Chat quickly grabbed his baton and circled back to Ladybug’s side.

“Thanks for the save, My Lady.”  
“What!” Chat winced as she practically screamed while standing only a few feet away from him.  
“I can’t hear you! The lucky charm was a pair of wireless earbuds!” she continued, still shouting. “I’m playing a really loud song, so he can’t hear my thoughts!”  
“Well, who needs to hear your thoughts when the whole city can hear what you’re saying,” he quipped back.  
Her eyebrows wrinkled behind the mask in confusion.  
“I love you!” he shouted.  
Another pause.  
“What?!”  
Chat chuckled and shook his head. Time for charades. “A-KU-MA” he mouthed while flapping his arms around to signal wings.  
“Oh! The pen in his front jacket pocket!”

Chat nodded and stalked back towards Writer’s Block who was still on his back. He placed the end of his baton in the center of the akuma’s chest. “Plot twist,” he smirked as he reached down to easily pluck the pen out of the pocket. Making sure to continue holding the akuma in place, he threw the akumatized item back in Ladybug’s direction. He kept his eyes trained on the akuma until he heard a very loud “Bye, bye, little butterfly!” and a thankfully normal volume “Miraculous Ladybug!” Then he joined her for a fist bump and a “Bien Joué” after which he breathed his customary “I love you.” He heard Ladybug gasp softly and watched in wonder as her cheeks bloomed a deep red. 

“My Lady, are you okay?” he asked, confused.  
“A-am fine I. I-I mean. I am fine. Good. G-great, actually, but I just remembered a thing I’m late for, and I need to leave right now. Immediately,” she said in a rush. Contrary to her words, she stood there for five more seconds before remembering that she was supposed to be leaving. She lashed out her yoyo and after a quick promise to see him at patrol that night she swung away, leaving behind one very confused cat.

**********

After the akuma, the four friends met up to make sure that everyone was alright before they decided to call it a day. Of course, the rest of the school day was cancelled, and they decided that they were all too tired to come up with plans. Well everyone except Alya, but she was adamant about getting the article up on the blog for the latest akuma. Bottom line was, Adrien had the rest of the day off before patrol, and he planned on spending it the best way he knew how. 

That’s right. As soon as he got back to his room he gave Plagg his Camembert then immediately collapsed on his bed for a much needed five hour nap. 

When he was finally roused from his sleep (by several phone calls from Nathalie) he had enough time for dinner and an impromptu piano lesson. Then he was locking the door to his room, and Chat Noir was leaping out the window into the cool night air. 

He propelled himself across the rooftops, following his usual pattern around town as he slowly made his way to their meeting place to begin their joint patrol. As he went, he only kept half of his attention on the streets in search of trouble. It had been an interesting week. On the last patrol, a few nights ago, he had been considering actually confessing his love. This time making sure that she heard him, but ultimately decided against it. He didn’t think she was ready for that yet. But he would wait for her.

As he came up on their usual meeting spot, he realised that he would be doing some literal waiting as well as his partner was nowhere to be found. He landed on the rooftop and stretched a little before sitting on the edge to wait for His Lady. 

As he waited he took in the beauty of Paris at dusk, right when the sky was painted orange and the lights of the city began to twinkle. A few minutes later a soft thud from behind made his ears twitch, and knowing that the love of his life was so close made his heart flutter momentarily. 

“Evening, My Lady,” he casually said as she came to sit next to him.  
“Hi, minou.”  
Chat noticed the slight pink color of her cheeks, probably from the wind hitting her face on the run over. “Well, ready for patrol?” he asked as he braced himself to stand, only to stop immediately when Ladybug’s hand landed gently on his shoulder.  
“No patrol tonight, Chat. I think we need to talk.”  
“Sure,” he said settling back down. “What about?” Honestly, any topic would be fine with him if it meant more time to spend with her.  
“Well,” she started as she wrung her fingers nervously. “Um, a few weeks ago when we were on patrol I fell asleep while we were sitting up on the Eiffel Tower. And, um… I heard you. I heard you say that you love me.”  
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t fine with any topic. He swallowed thickly. “Ladybug, look, this is obviously not the way that I wanted this to happen, and I know you’ve never really shown any inter-”  
“I love you,” the girl rushed out before he could finish his sentence.  
Chat stared in disbelief, unwilling to even hope that he had heard correctly.  
A nervous smile broke across her face as she nodded in confirmation. “Chat Noir, I’m in love with you.”  
Adrien sucked in a deep breath before laughing from pure elation. “Ladybug,” he finally said when he sobered up. “I love you more than I could ever say. And if you would let me, I’d like to kiss you.”

Another beautiful blush colored her cheeks as she leaned forward and gently met him in a kiss. It was incredibly tender but far shorter than he would have liked, and Chat found himself chasing her lips after she pulled away. But when his eyes fluttered open and were met with her mesmerizing blue ones he quickly got over his disappointment. They had all the time in the world after all. 

“You know,” he said as he laced their fingers together. “You need to catch up.”  
She tilted her head slightly to the side, her blue eyes shining. “Catch up?”  
“Well, by my count I have said “I love you” a total of 63 times, and you’ve only said it twice,” he smirked.

He was expecting her to roll her eyes or possibly even give him a cute giggle, but what he was not expecting was for her to drop her head slightly only to practically murder him as she gazed at him from beneath her lashes. And he certainly wasn’t expecting her to lean in closer.

“Well, then I guess I’ll just have to catch up.” She untangled their fingers to cradle his face in her hands. “I love you,” she whispered then punctuated it with a kiss on his cheek. “I love you.” Another kiss on the opposite cheek. “I love you,” she breathed as she finally pressed her lips to his once again, and this time Chat made sure she stayed there.


End file.
